No Harrisburg teachers will lose their jobs because of budget cuts, but there will be fewer of them when classes resume next month.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed yesterday announced $11.8 million cuts from the Harrisburg School District's $140 million budget for 2007-08 but said every effort was made to spare teachers' jobs and maintain education and other services to the district's 9,750 students.

"There shall be no teacher layoffs," said Reed, who had warned a week earlier that as many as 100 of the district's 1,200 employees could lose their jobs after Harrisburg lost $10.5 million in state funding.

While there will be no teacher layoffs, the district will not fill 38 teaching vacancies, and that will reduce the total number of teachers to 740.

In addition, the district will cut 54 other positions, including 14 of its 59 administrative posts.

While about half of the eliminated positions are vacant, 24 support staff  such employees as maintenance workers and teacher aides  will lose their jobs. Some layoffs also are possible during the administrative position cuts, Reed said.

Superintendent Gerald Kohn said the program and staff reductions, while disappointing, are nowhere near some of the worst-case scenarios that were envisioned after the state's budget lopped $10.5 million from a grant for Harrisburg's alternative-education program.

Kohn and Reed had warned of "hundreds" of alternative-education students returning to regular classrooms throughout the district, while average class sizes would increase to 30 or 40 students, up from 22 students per class.

There were similar warnings last year, when the district overestimated the state grant money it would receive and had to enact cuts after passing a budget.

"I feel that we did dodge a bullet," said Rich Askey, president of the Harrisburg Education Association, the teachers' union. "The fear is there. Every summer this happens, with teachers wondering if they're going to be teaching. We need to stop this and realize urban education takes extra funding."

Only about 25 high school students from Harrisburg's 500-student alternative program will be sent back to regular classrooms this year, along with a similar number in the elementary grades, Kohn said yesterday.

With certain teaching position eliminated, class sizes will increase to 24 or 25 students this fall, he added.

Reed and Kohn said one reason things aren't worse is that state Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin County, agreed to direct $3 million in unallocated funding controlled by the Senate Republican Caucus to the city schools.

Piccola, who has been critical of what he calls Kohn's spotty record raising state assessment test scores, said he agreed to earmark the funding only after long discussions with Reed about boosting student performance.

"I can assure you that many of our conversations were about the budget and how the budget should be redirected to improve Harrisburg's test scores," Piccola said. "I am cautiously optimistic that it can be put to good use."

And while Reed had high praise for Piccola and state Rep. Ron Buxton, D-Harrisburg, for coming to the district's aid, the mayor took a swipe at state Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak, who last week raised questions about the district's budget.

Reed accused Zahorchak, a former Johnstown schools superintendent, of "denigrating" the Harrisburg district and providing an "alibi" for why the alternative-education grant was cut.

At a news conference last week, Zahorchak cited the state's "very, very generous" funding for Harrisburg and indicated the district might have aimed too high in counting on $20 million in state grants. He noted Harrisburg's recurring state revenue was up $6.9 million, or 12.3 percent, for a total of $62.8 million for 2007-08.

"We think if you put more money into a school district you should see better results, and that has not been the case in recent years in Harrisburg," Zahorchak spokesman Mike Race said last night.

Reed had his own good news from the state yesterday, announcing that Harrisburg's prekindergarten program for 560 children will receive $3.39 million under Gov. Ed Rendell's prekindergarten initiative. 

Superintendent Gerald Kohn and state Sen. Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin, disagree on the huge cut in state aid to Harrisburg schools. They share their views in this Q&A.

Related Stories

Featured Story

Get 'Today's Front Page' in your inbox

This newsletter is sent every morning at 6 a.m. and includes the morning's top stories, a full list of obituaries, links to comics and puzzles and the most recent news, sports and entertainment headlines.

optionalCheck here if you do not want to receive additional email offers and information.See our privacy policy

Thank you for signing up for 'Today's Front Page'

To view and subscribe to any of our other newsletters, please click here.